Buddy Wells is one of South Africa’s most respected jazz saxophonists, composers and arrangers, with a career spanning more than three decades. A graduate of the University of Cape Town’s South African College of Music, where he completed a First Class B.Mus. Honours in Jazz Performance, Buddy has played a significant role in shaping Cape Town’s contemporary jazz scene.
His early achievements include winning the 1994 Adcock Ingram Competition for Best Jazz Instrumentalist and the 1996 SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition. His band Kusasa won the 1995 SAMIX Best Unsigned Band Competition.
As a composer and arranger, Buddy contributed the brass arrangements to Jimmy Dludlu’s Echoes From The Past, which received two South African Music Awards (SAMAs) in 1998.
Buddy has performed and collaborated with some of the most influential names in African and international jazz, including Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Manu Dibango, Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, Jimmy Dludlu, Herb Ellis, Gloria Bosman, Carlo Mombelli, Marcus Wyatt and Kyle Shepherd.
A landmark achievement in his career is performing at every Cape Town International Jazz Festival since its inception in 2000. He has also appeared extensively at the Standard Bank Jazz Festival and National Arts Festival.
Beyond performing, Buddy is an accomplished educator and mentor and has served as conductor of the Standard Bank National Youth Jazz Band, helping develop the next generation of South African jazz musicians.
With his distinctive tenor saxophone sound, exceptional versatility and deep understanding of South African jazz, Buddy Wells remains a defining voice in the country’s jazz landscape.
